We Bare Bears
| We Bare Bears | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Created by | Daniel Chong |
| Based on | The Three Bare Bears by Daniel Chong |
| Directed by |
Manny Hernandez Robert Alvarez (animation) |
| Voices of | |
| Theme music composer | Ivan Barias |
| Opening theme | "We'll Be There", performed by Estelle |
| Composer(s) | Brad Breeck |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 49 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Daniel Chong |
| Producer(s) |
|
| Running time | 11 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Cartoon Network Studios |
| Release | |
| Original network | Cartoon Network |
| Picture format | HDTV 1080i |
| Audio format | Stereo |
| Original release | July 27, 2015 – present |
| External links | |
| Website | |
We Bare Bears is an American animated television series created by Daniel Chong. The show premiered on Cartoon Network and follows three bear siblings, Grizzly, Panda and Ice Bear (respectively voiced by Eric Edelstein, Bobby Moynihan, and Demetri Martin), and their awkward attempts at integrating with the human world in the San Francisco Bay Area. Based on Chong's webcomic The Three Bare Bears, the pilot episode made its world premiere at the KLIK! Amsterdam Animation Festival, where it won in the "Young Amsterdam Audience" category. The series premiered on July 27, 2015.[1]
Plot
We Bare Bears follows three adoptive bear brothers: Grizzly, Panda and Ice Bear. The bears attempt to integrate with human society, such as by purchasing food, making human companions or trying to become famous on the Internet, although these attempts see the bears struggle to do so due to the civilized nature of humans and their own animal instincts.[2] However, in the end, they soon figure out that they have each other for support.[3] One notable aspect of the show's humor is the bears' ability to form a "bear stack". As its name implies, the bears stack on top of each other, which serves as their unique way of transportation.[2] (They stack in age order, Grizz on top, Panda, then Ice Bear on the bottom. Ice Bear often says "Ice Bear will drive" before doing this.
Characters
Bears
- Grizzly ("Grizz" for short) (voiced by Eric Edelstein, Sam Lavagnino as a cub) is a grizzly bear. The oldest and the leader of the brothers, Grizz is a fun-loving bear who tends to get the others into random hijinks. Grizz is paradoxically highly sociable yet socially inept. Despite this, he is constantly wanting to meet new people and tries to befriend everyone he comes across. As a baby, he was rescued by a team of firemen who prevented him from falling off a tree-top during a storm. It seems that he was younger than in most baby bear episodes according to the flashback pictures in "Burrito."
- Panda (voiced by Bobby Moynihan, Duncan Joiner as a cub) is a giant panda. He is the middle brother and is nicknamed Pan-Pan by Grizz. He is tender-hearted and gets embarrassed or anxious easily. Panda has a lot less self-confidence than his brothers. He is good with technology, and uses that skill on online social media and dating sites. He is the more creative of the brothers, and undoubtedly the "cutest" as settled in "Panda's Sneeze." Panda is a vegetarian and has a severe allergy to peanuts and cats.
- Ice Bear (voiced by Demetri Martin, Mela Lee as a cub) is a polar bear and the youngest brother. Ice Bear is often stoic and rarely speaks. When he does, he speaks mostly in the third person and mostly says his name first before anything else. He learned to talk much later than his two brothers, as revealed in "The Island". He is multilingual, having been shown to speak Korean, French, and Russian fluently. Ice Bear also is able to speak to pigeons in the episode "Our Stuff." He is also a skilled chef, salsa dancer, a novice at robotics, and a martial artist. Ice is the most composed of the brothers, always maintaining an "ice-cool attitude" in even the most awkward and embarrassing of situations. As seen in "Losing Ice", his brothers often take him for granted and are unappreciative of all the cooking and cleaning he does, although they eventually realize the error of their ways. Ice Bear sleeps in the refrigerator with a fire axe.
Recurring
- Chloe Park (voiced by Charlyne Yi) is a 10 year old Korean-American girl and a child prodigy, who skipped "a couple" of grades and enrolled into college early. In "Chloe," she breaks into the Bears' cave to study them for a college presentation, and along the way, she befriends the bears. She doesn't have many friends other than the bears and has a hard time relating to her much older peers.
- Nom Nom (voiced by Patton Oswalt) is a koala. He is a famous internet star, known for his "cute" videos and the main antagonist of the series. He doesn't talk in public, but in front of the bears often yells angrily. Grizzly imposes him enough to talk to him and admits that he liked his video, but Nom Nom is self-centered and more concerned with materialistic things. In "Viral Video," Nom Nom says that he does not want any friends because he finds them unimportant and too loud, and proves his point by kicking Grizz out of his limo.
- Charlie (voiced by Jason Lee) is a bigfoot. He wanders alone around the San Francisco woods until he meets the Bears in "Charlie," where they agree to let him live in their cave for a little while via a website called CaveShare. It is revealed that, due to his life of solitude, he is socially inept and doesn't know how to be a good friend. This results in him unintentionally causing havoc for the Bears whenever he hangs out with them. He is also constantly harassed by the media trying to get pictures of him, which results in him being afraid of cameras. In the episode "Charlie Ball," we see that Charlie is extremely skilled at ball-handling, and that his height makes him perfect for basketball.
- Ranger Tabes (voiced by Cameron Esposito) is a park ranger. She lives in a cabin located in the park where the Bears live. They first meet her in "Ranger Tabes" where she helps them locate a missing package. She is shown to be overly confident, persistent and even downright obsessive with wanting to help the Bears. Her obsession is explored in "Creature Mysteries" where she tries to capture and prove Charlie's existence. In that same episode, it's revealed that her mother was also a park ranger and the one who inspired her to become one. Despite her personality, the Bears consider her their friend.
Production
The show was created by cartoonist Daniel Chong, who had previously worked as a story artist for Pixar and Illumination Entertainment. The show is based on his webcomic The Three Bare Bears, which also features the identifying characters. The comic was published from 2010 to 2011.[4] Billed as a comedy, the show is a production of Cartoon Network Studios, which developed the program with Chong as part of their shorts development program. It was announced during the network's 2014 upfront.[3]
Episodes
| Season | Episodes | Originally aired | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First aired | Last aired | ||||
| Pilot | November 6, 2014 (KLIK! Festival) August 26, 2015 (UK and Ireland) | ||||
| 1 | 26 | July 27, 2015 | February 11, 2016 | ||
| 2 | 26 | February 25, 2016 | January 2017 | ||
| 3 | 26 | January 2017 | TBA | ||
Broadcast and reception
The pilot episode made its world premiere as part of two separate venues of the KLIK! Amsterdam Animation Festival at the EYE Film Institute Netherlands: the "Animated Shorts 5",[5] and the "Animated Shorts for Kids" ages 9 to 12.[6] The short was screened alongside the Dutch premiere of Clarence, the Steven Universe episodes "Mirror Gem" and "Ocean Gem", and a live interview with the creator of the latter series, Rebecca Sugar. Described by the institute as "hilarious and endearing",[7] the pilot won in the "Young Amsterdam Audience" category.[8]
Critical response
We Bare Bears has received generally positive reviews from critics. Kevin Johnson from The A.V. Club gave "Everyday Bears" a B. He thought the show was charming enough to enjoy, but not "must-watch". He praised the voice actors, but was disappointed that the show did not thoroughly explore the discrimination humans have towards the bears and ended by calling it a "very good 'just okay' kind of show" until the discrimination is explored.[9]
International
We Bare Bears premiered on Cartoon Network in Canada on July 27, 2015[10] and on Cartoon Network in the United Kingdom and Ireland on September 7, 2015.[11][12] The series debuted on Cartoon Network channels in Australia and New Zealand and the Philippines on November 16.[13][14] It premiered on Cartoon Network in India on November 29, 2015, and in Italy on December 8, 2015. We Bare Bears premiered in Pakistan on Cartoon Network on July 13, 2016 and airs on every Saturday and Sunday at 11:00 PM, according to Pakistan Standard Time.[15] In Germany, it airs on Disney Channel.
Other media
Penguin Random House announced in 2014 that it will publish books based on various programs for Cartoon Network, including We Bare Bears. The books are produced out of the company's Cartoon Network Books imprint, a division of the Penguin Young Readers Group, and is based on a partnership with the network that started in 2013.[16]
Home media
DVD releases
| DVD title | Season(s) | Aspect ratio | Episode count | Total running time | Release dates |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Viral Video[17] | 1 | 16:9 | 12 | 132 minutes | October 4, 2016 |
Awards and nominations
| Year | Award | Category | Nominee | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Annie Awards | Outstanding Achievement, Storyboarding in an Animated TV/Broadcast Production | Madeline Sharafian, Manny Hernandez, and Bert Youn (for "Burrito") | Nominated |
| 2016 | BAFTA | International | Won |
References
- ↑ "CartoonNetworkPR on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved July 13, 2015.
- 1 2 3 "Annecy: Daniel Chong on Cartoon Network's Big New Play, 'We Bare Bears' (EXCLUSIVE)".
- 1 2 "Cartoon Network Unveils Upfront Slate For 2014–15". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Media Corporation. March 10, 2014. Archived from the original on December 5, 2014. Retrieved December 22, 2014.
- ↑ Chong, Daniel. The Three Bare Bears (Online comic). Blogger. Archived from the original on June 4, 2014. Retrieved December 22, 2014.
- ↑ "KLIK! Festival: Animated Shorts 5". EYE Film Institute Netherlands. 2014. Retrieved November 10, 2014 – via archive.today (subscription may be required or content may be available in libraries).
- ↑ "KLIK! Festival: Animated Shorts for Kids (9–12)". EYE Film Institute Netherlands. 2014. Retrieved November 10, 2014 – via archive.today (subscription may be required or content may be available in libraries).
- ↑ "KLIK! Festival: Cartoon Network: Next Generation". EYE Film Institute Netherlands. November 6, 2014. Retrieved November 10, 2014 – via archive.today (subscription may be required or content may be available in libraries).
- ↑ "We Bare Bears wint 'Young Amsterdam Audience Award 2014'" [We Bare Bears wins 'Young Amsterdam Audience Award 2014']. TV-Visie (in Dutch). Exsite. November 13, 2014. Archived from the original on December 4, 2014. Retrieved December 22, 2014.
- ↑ Johnson, Kevin. "We Bare Bears: "Everyday Bears" "babies prolly hate you too"". The A.V. Club. Onion Inc. Retrieved August 8, 2015.
- ↑ Cartoon Network Canada (July 27, 2015). "Don't miss the NEW series, WE BARE BEARS, premiering tonight at 7PM et/pt!". Facebook.
- ↑ White, Grant (August 4, 2015). "UK Cartoon Network, Boomerang and Cartoonito Announce September Highlights". Toonzone.
- ↑ "Cartoon Network UK September 2015 Highlights". RegularCapital.com. Turner Broadcasting System Europe (Press Release). Retrieved May 21, 2016.
- ↑ Turner Broadcasting System. "Cartoon Network Highlights November 2015". US Campaign Archive. Retrieved September 1, 2015.
- ↑ "Catch the premiere of 'We Bare Bears' on November 16, only on Cartoon Network". Click the City. October 27, 2015. Retrieved November 23, 2015.
- ↑ Bhatnagar, Richa (November 23, 2015). "Cartoon Network Launches We Bare Bears in India". Cinespeaks. Mumbai. Retrieved November 23, 2015.
- ↑ Cartoon Network Partners with Penguin Young Readers Group on New Book Imprint. Children's Book Council. September 22, 2014. Archived from the original on December 22, 2014. Retrieved December 22, 2014.
- ↑ "We Bare Bears DVD news: Box Art for Volume 1: Viral Video". TVShowsOnDVD.com. July 28, 2016. Retrieved August 27, 2016.
External links
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Wikiquote has quotations related to: We Bare Bears |
- Official website
- We Bare Bears at the Internet Movie Database
- We Bare Bears at the Big Cartoon DataBase
- Original Webcomic